The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

<p>To help local governments enforce a new statewide building code, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is contributing $14 million to the state of Louisiana. State and federal officials expect the new stringent code to reduce insurance costs.</p>

March 12 - The Advocate

<p>In Portland, Oregon, results of a survey about the mayor's long-term planning vision reveal that many in the city feel development is pricing out the poor, and that policies cater more to encouraging economic development than to resident's interests.</p>

March 12 - The Portland Tribune

<p>Fernando Costa, the director of planning for Fort Worth, Texas, has won praise from residents with his common sense and consensus building approach to planning in this fast growing region.</p>

March 11 - Forth Worth Weekly

The recently launched Open Architecture Network uses Web 2.0 technology to get designers to share their ideas to benefit the neediest members of global society.

March 11 - Wired News

<p>Researcher say air pollution from Asia is changing Pacific weather patterns and ending up over West Coast cities.</p>

March 11 - The Los Angeles Times

<p>County officials are trying to find philanthropists to help buy land rights to a historic Pennsylvania farm, one that could be offered up to builders if preservationists do not buy the land by August 2.</p>

March 11 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

<p>An increasing number of Americans are renting self-storage units to stash away their ever-growing belongings.</p>

March 11 - The New York Times

BLOG POST

<p><img src="/files/u10403/T3logo.gif" alt="" width="369" height="72" align="top" /></p><p>The family and I took a recreational ride on the newest light rail line in San Francisco today, the Muni train known as the T. It runs along the city&#39;s east-west spine, Market St., and then cuts south along the water of the bay, then inland and way, way south down Third Street—from the city&#39;s hottest under-construction neighborhood through the worst ghetto.</p><p>As such, it&#39;s an interesting new ride in San Francisco. Some photos and observations after the jump.</p>

March 10 - Anonymous

<p>A plant company owner in San Diego, California, is hoping his new vegetated roof will help the concept catch on with others in the region.</p>

March 10 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

<p>With a federal takeover of the city's housing authority underway, the fallout from the investigation into the agency's misdealings is expected to call for dramatic changes in government policy towards low-income housing.</p>

March 10 - The Christian Science Monitor

<p>British planners have green-lighted a dizzying array of new high-rise projects, though some question the benefits of building tall.</p>

March 10 - BBC News

BLOG POST

<p>Greetings from Victoria, British Columbia!</p>

March 10 - Todd Litman

<p>Plans for the construction of several mega-highway and rail corridors across Texas are facing growing opposition.</p>

March 10 - Fort Worth Weekly

<p>Tourists who pay $74.95 will soon be able to enjoy a walk 'over' the Grand Canyon, with the money providing needed income for the Hualapai Indian Tribe.</p>

March 10 - The Arizona Republic

BLOG POST

At the <a href="http://www.planetizen.com/www.communitymatters.org" target="_blank" title="CommunityMatters07">PlaceMatters06</a> fall conference, participants were treated to the first sneak preview of <a href="http://outside.in" target="_blank" title="Outside.in">outside.in</a>, a spatially enabled hub for blogs and forums that adds location-based information to online discussions. Steven Berlin Johnson, author of several books including Emergence, and The Ghost Map, and the leading inspiration behind outside.in’s conception, demonstrated the beta site during his keynote session. It created a buzz with conference participants quick to recognize its potential as a tool for encouraging community dialogue and place making. <br />

March 9 - Ken Snyder

What happens when Edinburgh's implements a pedestrian congestion fee along The Royal Mile?

March 9 - YouTube

<p>Officials in Louisville, Kentucky, are considering joining the 22 other cities across the country that have adopted a 'complete' streets policy to ensure roads aren't built solely for cars.</p>

March 9 - Louisville Courier-Journal

<p>Despite their larger sizes, recent bungalows built in three of Atlanta's most historic neighborhoods nevertheless are sensitive to the look and scale of their surroundings.</p>

March 9 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

BLOG POST

<p>Are politicians becoming obsolete in the age of the Internet? Are they simply the &#39;middle-men&#39; that will be replaced by votes cast directly by citizens? This was the issue before a veritable <a href="http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/bedrosian/events/dacollpanelists.html">rock-star cast</a> of poliltical insiders from California and around the country. <strong>So what is the G-Word?</strong> </p><p><img src="/files/u4/header2sm.jpg" alt="panelists" title="panelists" hspace="4" vspace="4" width="490" height="55" align="left" /> </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

March 9 - Chris Steins

BLOG POST

<p>Across the U.S., dozens of colleges and universities are planning or building major campus expansions. However, unlike the 1990s which saw gleaming bioscience research facilities appear on campuses, the new construction is calculated to help attract and retain faculty and students with amenities for living and shopping. Almost without exception, these projects are in a strictly neotraditional design mold. </p>

March 9 - Robert Goodspeed